Search - Jerry Brown, Fred Hersch :: Mirage

Some Flames But No Fire

Gary L Connely | Hercules, CA | 04/19/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"If you like your jazz done the old fashioned way, the way Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald would have done it, then Jeri Brown is your kind'a singer. Ms Brown has a lush, soulful voice, a four octave range and, as the Los Angeles Times once observed, "... an attention to articulation reminiscent of Carmen McRae." To be blunt, Ms Brown can eat most of the young ladies pretending to be jazz singers today for lunch! But, I confess, "Mirage" is my least favorite Jeri Brown record.



"Mirage" is a set of duets between Ms Brown and pianist Fred Hersch, assisted by Daniel Lessard on bass. If you're a jazz fan, Mr Hersch needs no introduction - he's one of the very best. But he and Ms Brown just never quite catch fire. Oh, there's some smoke alright, maybe even a flame or two.... Ms Brown, who could scat the pants right off Mel Torme, was in fine voice - as she stretches out in "For All We Know" or nails "On the Sunny Side of the Street," things start to warm up - but the flames glimmer and go out. So....



If you are coming to Ms Brown's music for the first time, rather than "Mirage," I recommend that you try "'Unfolding' The Peacocks," (a wonderful album, notwithstanding its odd title); "A Timeless Place," (if you want to hear Ms Brown in a duet setting, this set with pianist Jimmy Rowles is the album to get); or "I've Got Your Number," (Ms Brown crankin' it up and lettin' it fly)."